MANCHESTER United’s interim manager Ralf Rangnick has revealed that he sounded out his predecessor Ole Gunnar Solskjaer after being given the job.
Rangnick was appointed on Monday until the end of the season, and he held his first press conference on Friday.
“I spoke with Ole for almost two hours on Sunday,” the German said. “He was very generous, gave me his insight on the team.”
Among the players Rangnick will be coaching is Cristiano Ronaldo, the record-breaking forward whom many feel might not fit into the new manager’s high-pressing system.
Despite scoring 12 goals since arriving back at United in the summer, Ronaldo, who has scored an unprecedented 800 career goals, has been criticised in some quarters for not working hard enough.
“You always have to adapt to the players you have. Seeing Ronaldo at 36 — I have never seen anyone as fit at 36,” Rangnick said.”But it’s not just about him, it’s about developing the squad as a whole.”The 63-year-old also revealed why he turned down Chelsea’s offer to replace Frank Lampard on a temporary basis in January.”At the time, when Chelsea contacted me, they only spoke about the option to become interim manager for four months, without any prospective for the long-term,” he explained.”Here, we are talking about six-and-a-half months. We only have one third of all the games played in the Premier League. As you all know, we have also agreed upon a two-year advisory role after those six-and-a-half months.”In the end, to be honest, if a club like Manchester United contacts you for such a role, you cannot possibly turn it down.”The former Schalke, Hoffenheim and RB Leipzig coach then highlighted his philosophy and ambitions at United.”The major target for me in the next days and weeks is to bring more balance to the team,” he offered.“I mean, in football it’s all about control. If you want to win games you have to have control no matter if the other team has got the ball or you are in possession of the ball yourself. “This is probably one of the major targets in the next couple of weeks, to help the team to have control on the game, and at least against the top teams in the last couple of weeks. “I saw the games against Liverpool and Manchester City, at Chelsea even though we won a point there, and even against teams like Watford, the team didn’t have control. They didn’t have control over the game and this is something we will try to achieve. “Of course, this has to do with what do we do when we have the ball ourselves, and what are we going to do when the other team has the ball. In those two areas, I think it’s important to develop the team in the next couple of weeks. “On the other hand, we won’t have that much training time, because we play every three days, so it’s about video footage, using video material as an important tool to develop the team, train the brains and at the same time encourage the players to do the right things.
“I think it’s important to win games in the first instance, and then step by step develop the team in the right direction.”
Rangnick’s first game in charge is the Premier League clash with Crystal Palace at Old Trafford on Sunday.
